The repletes save the food in their abdomens—which can swell up to such an extent that they can’t walk—and then hang from the ceiling of the underground nest. When hunger strikes a worker, it will stroke the replete’s antennae, causing it to regurgitate the stored noms.

When new repletes are needed, the largest of the workers start filling up their bellies for about two weeks, and then take over the role.

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Stalk-eyed fly (Cyrtodiopsis whitei).

Photograph Mark Moffet, Minden Pictures, National Geographic Creative

Stalk-Eyed Flies

You know the saying “If looks could kill?”

The male stalk-eyed fly’s eyes “are both an ornament and a weapon,” says Christina Painting, a postdoctoral student of behavioral ecology at the University of Auckland.

The longer the eyestalk, the bigger the male, says Painting, and the more attracted the female is to him. She adds that when it comes to fighting for females, the males with longer eyestalks always win. (Related: Stalk-Eyed Flies in Kenya)

The females’ eyes aren’t exaggerated like the males’, but they can spot quality: a study in the journal Nature found that males with longer eyestalks were genetically superior.

“I think [the moth] got attracted to the lights at our hotel and landed on our doorsill,” says Monteiro, who says the species is quite rare in its range in Asia.

A visual predator, such as a bird, sees these markings and thinks, “Flies are over there eating poop. That’s not what I eat. I’m out,” says Katy Prudic, an entomologist at the University of Arizona. Poop mimicry can be a life-saving adaptation that gets passed on to offspring, becoming refined over time.